The cigarette industry is urged to stop making tobacco, as a study says smokers with COVID-19 are more likely to be seriously ill.

All smokers have been urged to quit their habit and cigarette companies have been told to stop producing and selling tobacco during the coronavirus pandemic.

Professor John Newton, Public Health England's director of health, said "there has never been a more important time to stop smoking, not only for your own health but to protect those around you".

COVID-19 attacks the respiratory system and smoking can cause damage to the lungs and airways.

Image:The world's 1.3bn smokers have been told to quit as COVID-19 can affect them more severely

PHE officials also highlighted a survey from Wuhan, China, where the outbreak began, which found smokers who developed COVID-19 were 14 times more likely to develop severe disease.

As well as smoking, the study found age, maximum body temperature on admission and respiratory failure were among other significant factors.

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The study took place between 30 December last year and 15 January 2020 and was published in the Chinese Medical Journal.

An additional warning for smokers from PHE is that the virus can be given an easier route of entry into a person's body during the act of smoking which sees the smoker repeatedly raise their hands to their mouth.

PHE is not alone in calling for people to quit smoking in light of the pandemic.

Experts from the International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease have said they are "deeply concerned" about coronavirus' impact on the world's 1.3 billion smokers - particularly those in poorer countries whose healthcare systems are already overburdened.